


Hard to Get

by Aquielle



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Character Study, Gallavich, Ian POV, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 11:38:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3118745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aquielle/pseuds/Aquielle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mickey Milkovich wasn't anyone's Prince Charming but he might just save Ian Gallagher.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hard to Get

**Author's Note:**

> I had a surprising amount of Ian feels considering that Mickey is my bae on this ship.

Ian doesn't remember the first time he ever saw Mickey, but he does remember the first time he really noticed him. He was kicked out of a little league game for fighting and all Ian could think was how badly he wanted to be friends with him.

Lip had teased him about his little crush and Ian didn't talk about again after that. Looking back, he didn't really think it was a crush just a spark, but Mickey was a badass even at 12 and Ian just wanted to have cool friends, plus Mickey had pretty eyes.

The Milkovich family didn't exactly have a good reputation in the neighborhood but every single one of them was known to be tough as nails. Mickey was the youngest, the smart one, always quick to respond before thinking whether it was with a quip or a punch.

Mickey was a thug but there was something in the way he held himself that made Ian stare.

Ian always thought he was tough and crazy beautiful. The dark hair, blue eyes, he was so pale even under the layer of dirt and the fuck off attitude just made Ian's hands itch to touch.

Mickey preoccupied his thoughts long before they stumbled into bed together rushed and desperate.

He never thought he would ever get to lay a finger on Mickey without a jolt of pain quickly following, he didn't like to be touched unless he was hitting someone. He never thought Mickey even knew who he was aside from yet another in a long line of Gallaghers. Thank Christ for Mandy's big mouth.

Mickey made damn sure that he knew they were just fucking around. Ian had always enjoyed fooling around. It was one of the things he was undeniably good at. He liked taking his time and wringing noises out of his partners, loved to make them need him, the power just kinda did it for him. But with Mickey things went from amusing past-time to distraction bordering on obsession.

They started at full throttle and simply never eased off. Mickey's stints in juvie didn't exactly help matters. Whenever he got out the first thing he did was find Ian, and fuck if that didn't just trip Ian's triggers.

At first Ian treated the situation like a volatile explosive, sure-handed but gently so as not to cause Mickey to detonate. But after he got out the second time Ian could feel the shift, like tectonic plates settling before the inevitable seismic shit hit the fan.

He held onto Mickey with both hands, gripping and greedy not wanting to let go of the way he felt when they were alone together. The way they seemed to slide into each other's space effortless and easy. The bubble they existed in together was rough and dirty but it blocked out the ugly world that couldn't be trusted with something so precious and breakable. They were both afraid so they held on too tight, they were covered in bruises but neither let go.

Ian was terrified that Mickey's fear would bring everything crashing down but he was free falling and he had no way to stop. The further he fell the more desperate he was to stake his claim.

By the time Mickey's hardened exterior had started to crack Ian was already so far gone on him there was no escape. He could feel the flutter inside his chest every single time Mickey would smile at him from across the store. It may have been a secret but the spark that had ignited when he was nine was threatening to consume him and he had no interest in stopping it.

He was so blinded by love that he didn't see the clusterfuck that a blind man coulda seen coming from a mile away.

Trying to run away from Mickey had been the dumbest fucking idea he ever had, everything reminded him of the shitstorm he was hiding from. The only thing that could have been worse than being separated from Mickey was watching him lay broken under his father's rule without fighting.

No amount of meaningless sex or drugs could get those sad, angry eyes out of his mind but it made the time go by faster and he didn't cry himself to sleep anymore.

Sometimes he dreamed about Mickey, the curve of his spine, the slow smile that so few people got to see, he felt warmed and safe until reality set in again. He buried himself even deeper in drugs and booze so when Mickey finally did show up Ian was sure it was a particularly cruel dream.

Turned out that the only thing harder than loving Mickey was not loving him.

He remembers Lip once telling him that chicks loved heroic dudes. That they were all just waiting for a white knight to save them because their parents had filled their heads with princess shit about happily ever afters. He doesn't really know how girls think, and the ones he knew would be more likely to pull a switchblade out and stab a dragon their damn selves than wait around for some guy to do it for them.

He knew fairy tales were bullshit  but he also knew Mickey had rescued him. Rescued him from himself and his broken hearted self destruction.

It made not loving him impossible.

Ian is aware that the relationship he has with Mickey is more volatile than most people are comfortable with. Half the time they kiss each other with busted lips, covered in each other's blood, sometimes they are the cause of those injuries, but they are solid and more real than anything else in Ian's whole world.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for making me feel welcome aboard the ship.  
> (• ◡ •)っ ♡


End file.
